Hiring Pay Equity Passes in NYC

May 9, 2017

Salary History Inquiries to Be Off-Limits to New York City Employers

Action Item: On May 4, 2017, New York City Mayor Bill DiBlasio signed Int. No. 1253-A, a bill making it unlawful as part of the hiring process for an employer to ask about or rely on a prospective employee’s prior salary history. The bill is scheduled to take effect on October 31, 2017, 180 days after signing.

Hailed as a step toward gender pay equity, the bill is intended to prevent women, whose pay levels have historically trailed those of men, from being penalized because of earlier under-compensation. The bill will force employers to set a pay level that fits the job, not one that allows the employer to set compensation based on a “market level” where women may have been underpaid.